Kinetics of production and characterization of the fucose-containing exopolysaccharide from Enterobacter A47

A fucose-containing exopolysaccharide (EPS) was produced by the bacterium Enterobacter A47 using glycerol byproduct from the biodiesel industry. The analysis of kinetic data suggested a partially growth associated EPS synthesis model. Although the EPS was composed of fucose, galactose and glucose at all cultivation stages, their relative proportion has varied considerably during the run. At the beginning (24 h), glucose was the main component (82.4 wt.%), being fucose and galactose minor components (5.0 wt.% and 10.9 wt.%, respectively), while at the end (96 h) it was composed of 26.0 wt.% fucose, 28.9 wt.% galactose and 43.7 wt.% glucose. The acyl groups content and composition have also changed, reaching their maximum content (19.2 wt.%) at the end of the run. Moreover, the molecular weight has increased linearly during the run (from 8 × 10⁵ to 5 × 10⁶). The changes observed in EPS composition and molecular weight have also had an impact upon the polymer's intrinsic viscosity, as shown by its linear increase from 3.95 to 10.72 dL g⁻¹. The results suggest that the culture might have synthesized at least two distinct EPS, with different sugar composition and average molecular weight, which predominated at different cultivation stages.